ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - A fire broke out at Eni's (MI:ENI) Sannazzaro De' Burgundi oil refinery in northern Italy on Thursday afternoon, the oil major said, adding there were no reported injuries.
Eni, Italy's biggest refiner, said in a statement the fire had started at around 4.00 pm in the so-called EST plant at the refinery. The cause was still unknown.
"The fire is currently being extinguished," Eni said.
Traders said the 200,000 barrels-per-day refinery had started a 30-day maintenance on November 6.
Eni built the EST plant, ENI Slurry technology, to convert heavy oil residues into petrol and diesel products.
A spokesperson for the Italian fire brigade said earlier on Thursday the fire was large and had sent up clouds of smoke.
"There's a lot of smoke and we are currently evaluating whether any sort of evacuation plan may be needed," Luca Cari told Reuters.